Nahhh, not this one.
My script for the 40th birthday of the National Film Archives.
Black screen.......fade in dedication:“This film is dedicated to the memory of Tyler Joseph O’Reilly ~ for his young life’s fight in vain against all odds and his inspiration to me.”[Music over: Main title theme from “Die Kandidaat” (Roy Martin) from start of dedication until start of Academy leader]
Logo of Department of Arts and Culture
Ripple dissolve of DAC logo…… to fade in ofNFVSA 40 logo MCU and vanishes.
Fade into black screen for approximately five seconds…………..then
Fade into Academy leader (clock) counting down from ten.
(Music : theme from “Jock of The Bushveld” (Johnny Clegg) from start of clock to start of montage.)Before clock reaches three, leader catches fire, flares up very brightly and subsides quickly into ash.
Superimpose title A STORY LIKE THE WIND ~ THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL FILM, VIDEO AND SOUND ARCHIVES AT 40 over burning leader and later ash.
Sudden violent gust of wind blows ash into the air ~ the clouds are suddenly pierced and lit up by the bright beam of a film projector.
(Music concludes with the “and your life is a story like the wind…..” lyric from “Great Heart”.)Dissolve to very out-of-focus shot from “De Voortrekkers” which becomes sharp in focus as Piet Retief is murdered. (NB: Footage is projected onto the cloud of ash)[Music: main title theme from “Shangani Patrol” (Dan Hill & Mike Hankinson) from start of montage to conclusion of clips.]Fade to montage of stills from the lost era of South African films from “The Bridge” to “Voice of The Waters” ~ titles and release dates superimposed over them.Quick dissolve from the face of the frightened girl in “Waters” to the face of the exiled soldier Jan in “Sarie Marais”, then to Pierre de Wet’s anguished face in “Moedertjie” and then to the “ghost riders” scene in “They Built A Nation”.
Follow above with a series of quick insert shots (less than thirty seconds each) of some historic and pioneering films ~ scenes as follows:Singing in the restaurant (AFRICAN JIM)
Alibama scene (KOM SAAM VANAAND)
Abusing the conductor (ZONK)
The idiot in the cupboard (HIER’S ONS WEER)
The river scene (DAAR DOER IN DIE BOSVELD)
The housing problem scene (THE MAGIC GARDEN)
The Nazi salute (DOODKRY IS MIN)
The shooting of the farmer (THE HELLIONS)
The hero grins and rides off (VOOR SONONDER)
Into the water tank (LORD OOM PIET)
Shot in the head (RUITER IN DIE NAG)
Going to strike it rich (KIMBERLEY JIM)
Salute to the victors (ZULU)
Just a man (DINGAKA)
Death guards a useless treasure (RIDE THE HIGH WIND)
The mad chase (KING HENDRIK)
Chase in the fields (ALL THE WAY TO PARIS)
Falling off the cable car (THE SECOND SIN)
Crash dive of the gulls (WILD SEASON)
Hit with a chain (DIE KANDIDAAT)
Screaming at God (KATRINA)
Stop torturing me (GEHEIM VAN NANTES)
Slaughter of the vanquished (SHANGANI PATROL)
Hanged (JANNIE TOTSIENS)
The crash at Kyalami (THE WINNERS)
The car flips (U’DELIWE)
The mercy flight (ELOLLIPOP)
Shot by accident (ONGEWENSTE VREEMDELING)
Running up the wall (KARATE OLYMPIA)
The bridge attack (THE WILD GEESE)
The kiss (THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY)
The final slaughter (KILL & KILL AGAIN)
The church scene (BROER MATIE)
The reunion (FIELA SE KIND)
The twilight ambush (PLACE OF WEEPING)
Death waits (THE STICK)
The flight to freedom (CRY FREEDOM)
Don’t make me laugh (LETHAL WEAPON 2)
Too damn close (KILLER INSTINCT)
Fade out on final scenes of ambulance from “Sweet ‘n Short” ~ music “In The Fullness of Time” theme from “Sweet ‘n Short” ~ Leon Schuster dialogue ~ image of ambulance riding away ~ music ceases ~ fade out to
F/X: very old projector clatters to a stop ~ beam flares up very brightly ~ whiteout on screen ~ dies out.Fade in aerial (helicopter) and side on (camera car) montage shots of car traveling from Johannesburg to Pretoria on highway ~ car passes landmarks such as the Killarney Mall ~ various, tightly edited shots covering distance between two cities ~ car disappears around bend heading towards Potgieter Street ~ low up angle shot ~ sun breaks through and reflects on buildings ~ wide helicopter shot of Pretoria skyline ~ helicopter flies towards and zeroes in on Union Buildings ~ overhead shots of quiet Pretoria city streets, car turns in at 698 Church Street. Shots should ideally be taken on a Sunday morning to allow for ease of traffic and beautiful sunrise shots, not to mention to avoid running into all the dronkies and tsotsis on those streets. Helicopter shots take in car, streets, wide shot of the Craigilea Building. Helicopter panning in circle shot of CB to hover shot.
[Music ~ “Eye Level” (Jack Trombey) over shots of car traveling through Pretoria streets and approaching NFVSA buildings.]
Car approaches gate, is waved through by security. Car “accidentally” runs over security guard’s foot.Tracking shot (dolly track) following car from edge of front lawn until medium close up on stopped car.
Presenter alights, medium close up on car and presenter, dust blows up from rotor downdraft, helicopter lands on lawn, music ceases.PRESENTER (smiles)
“Hello. I’m Charlize Theron.”
Insert clip from “Monster” showing Charlize as Aileen Wournous brandishing a revolver in the woods. Close up on revolver, fade into shot of Academy Award held by Presenter.PRESENTER (smiles, looks at award)
“Oh well, I suppose this brassware is better than that hardware anyday, especially since this Oscar was the first one won by a South African actor ~ myself, incidentally. The first South African to win an Oscar was the DOP Ted Moore, who won the “Best Cinematography” Oscar in 1967 for the film A Man For All Seasons, directed by Fred Zinnemann.”
Short clip from “A Man For All Seasons” and superimpose still of Ted Moore, B.S.C.
Presenter walks onto lawn, wide shot of Presenter, car, building and immediate area, including Union Buildings.PRESENTER
“It’s hard to believe that this (indicates building behind her) once humble farmhouse which predates both the Anglo~Boer War and the Union Buildings now houses South Africa’s film heritage, dating as far back as 1898, when the first shaky shots (camera shakes slightly on word ‘shaky’ then back to normal) were made in Adderley Street, Cape Town.”
Cut to insert shot of Adderley Street ABWar material. Add sound if possible.
Presenter walks to edge of lawn, wide shot of Presenter, HB and Pretoria skyline.PRESENTER
“It’s here where the film history of South Africa is kept securely. More importantly, the film history of this country is kept in the hearts and minds of many and it is here where those memories come alive, both in the Craigilea Building behind me and in the Old Milk Board Building just down the road ~ now re-named the ‘Ken Gampu Film Conservatory’, after one of South Africa’s leading film pioneers. Incidentally, the staff here tell me that the CB is haunted.”
Insert shot of two curious dassies [Amatottie & Amateetie] popping out of drainage ditch ~ they look quizzically at Presenter and camera.PRESENTER (at first startled, then smiles)
“Don’t worry, those aren’t the ghosts, just the building’s mascots. They look after the staff here, that is, if they remember to feed them.”
Dassies sneeze and flee. Presenter walks to stairs, ascends stairs (tracking shot) stops, and turns. MCU on Presenter.
PRESENTER (dramatically)
“Welcome to where you return to your past to determine your future. Welcome to the SA National Film, Video and Sound Archives.”
Close up on hand attempting to open door ~ then MCU on bemused face of Presenter as she discovers that the door is locked. Presenter gives camera an embarrassed glance and bangs on door. Door opens and dissolve to overhead crane shot of CB showing building from above ~ 360 degree panning shot, ending on rear quadrangle.
Camera pans slowly down to rear quadrangle cut to Steadicam shot from rear quadrangle to reception area, wide shot of reception area and Presenter ~ walks through exhibition area, waves to Secretary on phone.PRESENTER
“You may not be aware of it, but the SANFVSA has been around since 1964, when it formed part of the now defunct National Film Board. It was then known as the SA Film Institute and had Mr Pieter Germishuys as its’ head.”
Presenter’s image starts to slowly develop scratches and rope lines [P looks around, alarmed: “En wat gaan nou aan?”] ~ fades away into footage of various NFB productions ~ image is eventually superimposed on screen of NFVSA screening room’s editing table.PRESENTER (on camera, in suite)
“No matter how hard the times or the unenviable stigma of being a National Party sock puppet in bygone days, the NFVSA has always kept the flame of SA film preservation burning. In its’ previous incarnation as part of the NFB, it was not welcome, especially among some prominent SA filmmakers who held the view that the NFB was a white elephant that was killing the local industry, instead of assisting it. The main complainant was the award~winning filmmaker Emil Nofal who accused the NFB of this ‘genocide’ in 1969.”
Insert shots of various Emil Nofal film productions, including Voor Sononder, King Hendrik, Wild Season, Die Kandidaat, Katrina and The Winners. Use theme from the latter film (“My Way”) over clips. Music ceases on freezeframe of final scene of “The Winners’ ~ superimpose still of Emil Nofal over.
PRESENTER (smiles ruefully)
“Despite the film industry’s being ‘destroyed’ by the activities of the NFB, Mr Nofal and many others like him nonetheless succeeded in making many well remembered and classic South African films. Even though the NFB was (as the NFVSA is today) a government funded organization, it became a repository for all the material that the then government deemed to be undesirable. Many documentaries made in or about (legally or otherwise) this country’s often turbulent history were saved from the dump or shredders and were preserved for posterity. Examples of these were the various, vicious and mostly set up anti~apartheid documentaries made by the BBC, CBS and Granada TV during the 1960’s and 1970’s,as well as copies of the various feature films that the Censor Board had ordered censored or banned.”
Insert examples of these films ~ “White Africa” ~ “The Dumping Grounds’ ~ “Discarded People” ~ “Heart of Apartheid” ~ “The Colour Line” ~ “The Colour War” ~ “The White Laager”. Feature film clips can be sourced from films such as “Billy Jack”, “Enter The Dragon”, “In The Heat of The Night”, “The Exorcist”, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “The Stick”, “To Sir With Love”, “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?” and other films banned in the apartheid era. Use music from “Master Jack”(David Marks) as background music. End clips on final graves shot from “Last Grave At Dimbaza” ~ music ceases.PRESENTER
“Ag ja, nê? Those were the “wonderful” days when you were told by the government and more correctly, the feared, beloved and reviled Publications Control Board, what you could and could not see, read, hear, think and, in effect, what you could and could not do.After much stormy debate in Parliament, the NFB was shut down permanently in 1979, but after a long struggle, the SA Film Institute (now renamed the NFA) was thankfully permitted to continue with its’ activities.”
Insert shot of dust covered NFB logo blowing away to reveal NFVSA logo.
Cut to exterior shot of the Holdings Building. Start on fresco above main entrance, pan down to Presenter framed in doorway.PRESENTER
“Even going downhill this hill is a bit of a schlep but what makes the trip all worthwhile is the knowledge that behind these doors (indicates to rear) of what was once known as the Milk Board Building the entire film, video and sound history of this country is housed.”
Presenter enters HB ~ music from “No Milk Today” used over. Camera follows into HB ~ Presenter greeted and welcomed by Danie, Melisia, Simon, Dan and Jacob, the latter person offers Presenter a glass of milk.
The HB seems to have taken on a life of its’ own ~ CGI of various scenes from SA films float ghostlike along floors, ceilings and doors, some even float under doors ~ use images from films of the past, include not only features but also actual historical scenes such asAnglo~Boer War scenes
SA troops in World War 1
The miners strike
The depression and depiction of suffering therein
World War 11
Footage of Paul Kruger, Jan Smuts, J B M Hertzog, D F Malan, J G Strijdom, Hendrik Verwoerd, B J Vorster, P W Botha and others, including footage of the sometimes misguided pro and anti~apartheid movement.
Presenter enters some of the rooms ~ display of equipment, films, videos and sound. “Ghost images” continue, tracing SA’s history as far back as 1898, seemingly emanating from cans, tapes, recordings, etc. CGI footage ceases as P walks downstairs ~ last “ghost” seen is assassination attempt on H F Verwoerd by David Pratt in 1960. Dubbed gun shot echoes and re~echoes once more, dies away, in the manner of the final sounds of pistols and cannons respectively in “Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid” and “All The President’s Men”. Presenter walks out of HB, camera follows her all the way up the hill. Cut to tracking shot from side. [Music: Katrina’s Theme (Roy Martin) from start of CGI footage to last gunshot echo to where Presenter stops at door of CB.]PRESENTER
“Several years ago, the SANFVSA paid host to a mampara who expressed the fervent wish that all pre~ democracy footage housed within these walls should be destroyed. This is of course, not an option for the archivists here, nor should it be an option for any person to entertain at all. The SANFVSA stores any film, video and sound material that is relevant to the history of this country, not that which is relevant just to the outmoded thoughts of a few. Yes, everything, even down to the sewerage level of a nauseating film made by the Nazis as a present for South Africa in 1941.”
Cut to very quick insert shot of “Ohm Kruger” ~ show synch shot of this film being stored with all the others ~ synch shots of all SANFVSA staff doing daily work, assisting clients, screening films, etc. Dissolve to Presenter sitting in theatre with Dennis. Music ceases.PRESENTER
“I trust that you’ve enjoyed your all too quick visit to the spiritual home of the South African cinema, the place where a bunch of dedicated people preserve the dreams and events of the past, present and future. The tireless preservation of these images by these special people serve to remind all South Africans of where we were, where we are and where we are going. Dankie vir die lekker saamkuier ~ sien julle. Totsiens.”
Presenter smiles ~ pan shot from MCU of her face to cinema screen ~ 35mm film projected ~ final, haunting sequence from “Katrina” with Jill Kirkland in Don Leonard’s arms ~ Cobus Rossouw removes hat ~ Don Leonard looks down at Jill Kirkland ~ choir murmuring ~ shot of setting sun ~ fade to black ~ silence ~ black screen.[Music for above and end credits: end theme from “Jannie Totsiens” (Tony & Jan)Aerial shots as helicopter takes off: of NFA buildings
Aerial shots of Tshwane, include monuments and buildings of note
Have Paul Kruger doff hat as helicopter flies over Church Square
Sun setting on,over and behind skyscrapers
Sunbeams suffused with dust through tree branches
Light bleeds out of day
Dusk quickly becomes twilight and then night (time lapse)
Aerial traffic shots on highway (streaks of lights of passing cars)
Wide shot of Johannesburg skyline
Fade to black once more.
Music ceases.
